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LVIN LEUNG IS NOT A MAN LACKING in self-belief. ‘His X-treme cuisine is an art form,’ declares his website. ‘He does to Chinese food what Picasso did to art.’ Th ese are bold claims, but bold is what Leung does best. Habitually dressed all in black, with electric-blue streaks in his hair and a cigar in hand, he cuts a fl amboyant fi gure on Hong Kong’s fi ne-dining scene. Th ough he’s not fond of the term, his approach is informed by the tricks and techniques of molecular gastronomy. At Bo Innovation, his two Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong, lap mei fan (preserved Chinese sausage with rice) might be deconstructed into ice-cream and puff ed rice crispies, xiao long bao dumplings distilled into quivering, yolk-like spheres. Now, the self-proclaimed ‘demon chef ’ is preparing to go global. Bo London will open at the end of October on a prime Mayfair site at a cost of over £1 million. As Leung’s fi rst venture outside Hong Kong, it’s a huge – and high-profi le – gamble. ‘I’m risking a lot, aside from a million pounds,’ says Leung. ‘If I fl op here, that’s going to be a big setback for me: New York would be out of the question.’ Today, aside from two glittering cross-shaped earrings (one jade, the other studded with diamonds), Leung is looking relatively subdued. Th e ‘demon chef ’ tattoo on his PRIVATDINING shoulder is covered up and the streaks gone from his hair; he is, rather sweetly, worrying about his blue-tinted glasses. ‘I use them for my TV series, and they were very diffi cult to fi nd. We’re shooting on Saturday: if I lose them, it’ll be odd that I have diff erent glasses for the next six episodes.’ Th e rebel image that has taken him to the top is, he says, grounded in reality. ‘Th e rock ’n’ roll persona, the demon chef tag; all that has signifi cant elements of my character.’ Combined with his boundary-pushing cuisine, it has helped him to become one of Asia’s best-known chefs – a remarkable feat, considering that until 2003 he had never set foot in a professional kitchen. He was an acoustic engineer until, aged 43, he began cooking at a friend’s 25-seater speakeasy in Hong Kong, called Bo InnoSeki. Six years later, the self-taught chef was awarded two Michelin stars. Not everyone is convinced that Leung has the talent to live up to his star billing. Back in 2005, the International Herald Tribune published a damning review by Patricia Wells; comparing Bo InnoSeki to El Bulli, she declared, was ‘a bit like saying that Kentucky Fried Chicken is on par with Twenty-Five Previous page and top: Leung creating his sandalwood-smoked almond sorbet with strawberries. Above: oysters with green onion and lime sauce and ginger snow
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